After telling Hayes to "get over yourself" in a tweet, the outspoken Senator hit back in a radio interview on Thursday morning and denied he was using the songs for political gain.

"They're not appropriated for my political purposes at all," he told ABC's Radio National. "So all of a sudden, I'm not allowed to create a playlist on a music streaming service to which I subscribe, because I might be politicising it. This is nonsensical."

Senator Bernardi accused Hayes of being intolerant, and said the backlash from him and other artists was outrageous.

I don't support your party, values or views. Remove my music from your promotions. You do not have permission to use my music. https://t.co/fBmVisypLz

"This is the type of intolerant censorship that we have warned about for such a long time," he said. "Suddenly artists are saying you're not allowed to add my song to your playlist, you're not allowed to play my music or enjoy my music because I don't agree with your politics views.

"This is outrageous. I'm not using it for my party or my views. I put it on a playlist on Spotify."

Bizarrely, Senator Bernardi defended his inclusion of the Savage Garden song saying he had been criticised for including it "because an openly gay man wrote the song".

"Well, I don't care about that," he said.

Cory Bernardi defended including the song in his countdown because he ‘doesn’t care’ that the man who wrote it is gay.News Limited

Responding to the Hilltop Hoods tweet, Senator Bernardi said: "I actually do enjoy their music but I don't have to like their politics.

"I don't have to enjoy their political or social activism to say hey, they're talented, they're Australian, and they've got some boppy little songs that I kind of enjoy."

He went on to accuse the artists of "groupthink" and "forced ideological blinkered thinking".

The #AC100 countdown appears to be a direct response to Triple J's decision to change the date of their Hottest 100 countdown, which has traditionally been broadcast on January 26.

Senator Bernardi said his playlist was all about encouraging people to enjoy Australian music on Australia Day.

"We've been encouraging people to celebrate Australia Day by hosting barbecues and doing distinctly Australia things including listening to Australian music," he said.

"It's been a cultural tradition for many people to listen to the Triple J hottest 100. That's no longer available to them, and we thought we'd put together 100 of our favourite songs, Australian songs, that people can play on Spotify."